Rugby: Treorchy take down Llantwit

TREORCHY gained top spot in Division Two East with a hard fought win over rivals Llantwit Fardre at the Oval as former leaders Gilfach Goch slipped to an unexpected home defeat to bottom side Llantrisant.

TREORCHY gained top spot in Division Two East with a hard fought win over rivals Llantwit Fardre at the Oval as former leaders Gilfach Goch slipped to an unexpected home defeat to bottom side Llantrisant.

Treorchy were out of the blocks quickly and after missing a shot at goal in the opening minutes, opened the scoring with a converted try as outside-half Celyn Ashton fielded a clearance kick on the Llantwit ten metre line, before beating two weak tackles to get behind the defensive line before working Peter Hutchings over for an excellent opening score.

Llantwit missed a chance to reduce the deficit with a penalty but otherwise Treorchy were dominating the territory courtesy of some excellent out of hand kicking from Ashton and full back Lee Stone.

One positive for Llantwit was their line out which was a particularly fruitful phase of the game as former Welsh international Geraint Lewis displayed the range of skills that won him his caps as Llantwit held their nerve to throw to him at the tail.

With the return from injury of youngster Jamie Maggs, Treorchy were able to call on a full compliment of front row forwards for the first time all season and the difference was apparent as Llantwit where driven off the ball in the shadows of their own posts.

Scrum-half Gareth Fear was stopped short, but captain Jamie Summers, returning to number eight after his enforced spell in the front row, was on hand to add the five points.

Llantwit responded superbly with a try of their own as they worked their way deep into Treorchy territory.

They found the excellent Zebra defence difficult to break down, but a precise cross field kick from Llantwit outside-half Carl Thomas fell nicely into the arms of his brother Dean.

The try was left unconverted, but with the game going into half time 17-5, Llantwit will have felt they still had a chance with the wind at their backs in the second half.

While Treorchy’s dominance at scrum time become less pronounced during the course of the game, they got a grip of Llantwit’s rolling maul in yet another impressive performance from the united Treorchy pack who stood their ground superbly.

A second Ashton penalty on the hour mark appeared to secure the points, but Llantwit had more chance to gain something from the fixture as they were awarded a scrum on the Treorchy line with five minutes remaining.

The scrum was disrupted by Treorchy and to compound the lost opportunity, the visitors were reduced to fourteen men as the referee brandished a red card following an altercation after the whistle had blown.